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The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast

The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast

By: Colin Nottage
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 Welcome to the Interesting Health and Safety Podcast, brought to you in partnership with Safety FM! A lot of people see health and safety as a really boring subject. Too much red tape, too many systems and procedures. A lot of things getting stopped by the safety police. Colin brings a different take on this; Ok at times it is still serious but Colin brings the topic to life in an interesting and challenging way. If you are serious about making a difference to your team then this podcast will help you run some great health and safety initiatives. A mix up of short messages, top interviews, opinions and great practical advice. Out twice a week Colin’s different takes on this subject will surprise you, annoy you, make you laugh and cry and remember if you are boring then don’t bother listening. Whether you’re a leader, senior manager, at the sharp end or a health and safety professional there is something here for you. Colin’s mantra is to make health and safety as important as everything else you do because that is what he believes. Thanks for taking the time to check this out2025 Colin Nottage Economics Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Loneliness And The Power Of Connection - with Crystal Danbury

    Loneliness And The Power Of Connection - with Crystal Danbury
    Dec 8 2025
    Colin is joined by Crystal Danbury to discuss the pervasive issue of loneliness and social isolation and its deep impact on mental and physical health. Crystal shares the personal and professional inspiration behind developing her app, "Friendzone," which aims to facilitate genuine human connections based on shared interests and hobbies KEY TAKEAWAYS Loneliness is the difference between the level of socialisation you have versus the level you desire, and it can be a significant issue even for people who appear outgoing or have successful careers. Long-term happiness is strongly linked to the health and maturity of friendship connections outside of immediate family, according to studies like one from the Harvard Business School. Loneliness has physical health manifestations, with studies showing that people who are lonely are more likely to experience disease and die earlier. Effective leadership involves genuinely caring for people and fostering an environment where employees feel safe and comfortable enough to share their struggles and daily obstacles, which provides invaluable data for operational improvement. BEST MOMENTS "It's always under the surface and many of the people that I've helped over my years... you look at somebody and you think you're not okay. You're saying you are, but I know you're not." "Loneliness is the difference between the level of friendship and socialisation you have versus the level of friendship and socialisation you want." "You are more important than that... You have to think about your life, not the role." "When someone says, 'Hallelujah!'... Thank you for having the confidence to even say this." VALUABLE RESOURCES The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/vn/podcast/the-interesting-health-safety-podcast/id1467771449⁠ Project Mollitiam - ⁠https://www.projectmollitiam.com⁠ ABOUT THE HOST Colin Nottage ‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’ This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions. He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation. Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses. Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive. He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
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    50 mins
  • Transforming Workplace Challenges into Opportunities for Growth - with Becky Ray

    Transforming Workplace Challenges into Opportunities for Growth - with Becky Ray
    Dec 1 2025
    Colin meets Becky Ray, the owner of Culture Kick Limited, who’s here to talk about the importance of workplace culture, leadership, and the need for reflection in business practices. Becky shares her journey from traditional health and safety roles to focusing on the human aspects of organisational culture, emphasising the significance of empathy and curiosity in leadership KEY TAKEAWAYS Taking time to pause and reflect on frustrations and challenges in the workplace is crucial. Leaders should encourage their teams to identify what is getting in their way and to consider how they can remove, reduce, or reframe these obstacles. Failure should be viewed as an opportunity for growth and learning rather than something to be feared. Organisations can benefit from analysing failures to uncover insights that can prevent future incidents and improve overall performance. Safety culture should not be siloed to specific teams or departments. A holistic approach to organisational culture is necessary, as everyone in the company contributes to safety and operational success. Beyond physical safety, organisations should focus on the mental and emotional well-being of their employees. BEST MOMENTS "I think when you're frustrated at work, regardless of what you're doing, you cannot and will not do your best work." "We can just step off for a tiny bit and just pause and reflect, and then jump back on with a new kind of mindset or approach." "It's about finding a way that works for the businesses that you work with." "Frustration is a contagious emotion and we can't keep it in." VALUABLE RESOURCES The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/vn/podcast/the-interesting-health-safety-podcast/id1467771449⁠ Project Mollitiam - ⁠https://www.projectmollitiam.com⁠ ABOUT THE HOST Colin Nottage ‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’ This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions. He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation. Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses. Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive. He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
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    57 mins
  • Not When Pouring

    Not When Pouring
    Oct 20 2025
    Colin discusses the concept of bottlenecks in a business context, inspired by a LinkedIn post. He relates the common belief that the bottleneck is at the top of a bottle to the idea that senior management is always the issue. He counters this by pointing out that when pouring, the bottleneck is at the bottom, using the simple phrase "not when pouring”. As Colin explains, this requires a shift in the way we think about things… KEY TAKEAWAYS A common analogy in business and safety suggests that the bottleneck is always at the top, implying that senior leadership is the primary obstacle, but the host suggests the physical reality of a bottle being poured shows the bottleneck is actually at the bottom. The core aim for any health and safety professional should be to stop people suffering ill health or injury, and if this is not the main focus, then they have "lost the plot." The saying that safety is not the absence of events but the presence of defences, a concept often attributed to Todd Conklin, should be interpreted carefully and is not a complete idea on its own. While the majority of people are a valuable source of solutions in the workplace, professionals should be nuanced and not assume that people are never the problem, as occasionally individuals can indeed be the source of an issue. BEST MOMENTS "And so in business, if you're looking for where the bottlenecks are, then you've got to look at the top, you've got to look at the senior management team and the directors, the leaders and all that... And then I think Carsten just summed it up perfectly because he just wrote the words, not when pouring." "Because fundamentally, I think as we as health and safety professionals, if our aim is not to stop people getting injured or getting killed or getting hurt or getting maimed or suffering ill health, then then we have really lost the plot." "And and we may well look to the people that are working in the workplace, or probably most of the time, for the solutions in how to get things better, but it might not always be the right place to look, so just be just be wary." VALUABLE RESOURCES The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/vn/podcast/the-interesting-health-safety-podcast/id1467771449⁠ Project Mollitiam - ⁠https://www.projectmollitiam.com⁠ ABOUT THE HOST Colin Nottage ‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’ This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions. He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation. Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses. Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive. He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
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    9 mins
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